


Someone You Loved

by Dabberdees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: At least a year or two after The Woman Who Fell To Earth, F/M, Gen, Grace as a nurse would probably have been an organ donor, Ryan Yaz and the Doc are mentioned, Sad with a Happy Ending, Songfic, due to the fact that that's roughly how long until you can contact the donor or their family, sad fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 04:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18113009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabberdees/pseuds/Dabberdees
Summary: After getting a letter in the post, Graham goes to see the family that received Grace's heart.Songfic to Lewis Capaldi's Someone You Love (If you haven't see the video then watch it, it has Peter Capaldi in it and is heartbreaking)





	Someone You Loved

_I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to save me_

_This all or nothing really got a way of driving me crazy_

_I need somebody to heal_

_Somebody to know_

_Somebody to have_

_Somebody to hold_

* * *

 

Making the decision to visit was difficult, he didn’t know what to feel when he got the first letter in the post, asking if it was okay if the family that received Grace’s heart got in contact with them. He thought over the letter for weeks before he finally made his mind up. Yaz and the Doc offered to come but he refused, this was something that he needed to do by himself or with Ryan but when he asked Ryan, he declined, said it was too hard for him at the moment to really consider it. At the time he wasn’t sure if he understood his reasoning, but now? He completely understands his wishes because he wants to head back, to turn around and to run away and not face the person who now has her heart.

He shakes his head because he knows Grace wouldn’t want him thinking like that. They spoke about organ donation and he knew her wishes. It was obvious really, she was a nurse in life and she saved people and in her death, she was the same, always there saving people. Blinking away his tears he looks up to the sign and sees his stop arriving. _Gloucester_. So far south and so far away from Sheffield. He briefly considers getting off the train and taking the one back but her voice whispering in his ears drives his legs forward and he gets off, heading towards the exit.

* * *

 

_It's easy to say_

_But it's never the same_

_I guess I kinda liked the way you numbed all the pain_

* * *

 

The only thing he looks at is the turntable when he exits the station before taking the short walk to the taxi rank and getting into the first one available. He doesn’t look up at the driver and mutters a brief greeting, only because she reminds him too but that’s all, he doesn’t want to chat or make small talk about the weather. Not when his thoughts linger on her.

“Where you going, mate?” asked the taxi driver, in a thick west country accent that makes Graham pay attention for the first time since getting in.

He brings out the letter with the address and how to get there, reading it to make sure it’s correct. “Longlevens, near the post office will do, thanks.” Is his curt response before turning his head to look out of the window, watching as the _day bleeds into nightfall…._

 

_And you're not here_

_To get me through it all_

_I let my guard down_

_And then you pulled the rug_

_I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved_

* * *

 

The trip isn’t long, thankfully, and he pays the driver in full, even leaving some over as he mumbles a “Cheers, drive.” Like he would to his mates from the bus station in Sheffield. He watches as the taxi pulls away and he stays standing there, refusing to give in to the urge to just leave. He instead pulls out the letter again, his hands shaking, either from the cold winter air or nerves, he’s not sure. Turning away from the post office, he starts the short journey to his destination.

* * *

 

_I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to turn to_

_This all or nothing way of loving got me sleeping without you_

_Now, I need somebody to know_

_Somebody to heal_

_Somebody to have_

* * *

 

Standing outside their house, red-bricked with a white door and surrounded by a hedged fence. He steels himself as the winter air bites into the skin on his face. Be brave Graham, don’t be afraid anymore, her voice whispers again, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on edge. He leans into what he remembers her touch to feel like and he can almost sense the warmth as she urges him forward. He makes his way up the gravel driveway, his footsteps deafening to him and only him, the trip seeming longer than is possible but he soon finds himself in front of the white door, his hand knocking against it.

* * *

 

_Just to know how it feels_

_It's easy to say but it's never the same_

_I guess I kinda liked the way you helped me escape_

* * *

 

There’s movement from behind the door as a man, about thirty years old he reckons opens the door. At first, looking at him in slight confusion before the realization of who he is comes across his face. The man beckons him in. He hesitates but takes in a deep breath and steps into the warm house.

* * *

 

_Now the day bleeds_

_Into nightfall_

_And you're not here_

_To get me through it all_

_I let my guard down_

_And then you pulled the rug_

_I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved_

* * *

 

He’s lead into a living room where a young woman sits, facing away from both him and the man as she looks out the window. She turns to face him, her face kind and compassionate.

* * *

 

_And I tend to close my eyes when it hurts sometimes_

_I fall into your arms_

_I'll be safe in your sound til I come back around_

* * *

 

But he stands there awkwardly as the man leaves quickly, only coming back to ask if he wants a tea. He gives a slight nod in thanks, not really wanting anything but too damn British to refuse a tea in someone else’s home. “I’m Graham by the way.” He taps his leg with his hand and closes his eyes when he realizes that they know who he is. “But you already knew that sorry... I.. take it you’re Faith, that must be...” Truthfully he forgot her husband's name, it wasn’t as important as hers so he disregarded it. There’s Grace’s voice again, telling him off for forgetting.

“James, yeah.” The woman offers him a kind smile. She looks away from him and turns her eyes back to the window. “You know I had everything planned out within my head, everything that I would say to you but…” her voice trails off, as tears well in her eyes. “Thank you for coming, I know how hard it must have been for you.” she finishes as she turns back around.

Graham offers a low laugh, the first in days if he remembers correctly. It’s not one in humour though, but it’s something at least. “I won’t lie and say it was a walk in the park,” replied Graham, he sighs after and stares into her eyes. “But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to, my Grace, she told me to be brave and so here I am.” There’s a smile ghosting at his lips in fondness now. “Plus if I didn’t come she would’ve found some way to come back and kick my ass into gear.”

Faith smiles at that. “Grace, beautiful name for a beautiful woman, we kept the letter you sent back to us, telling us about her..” She gestures to a seat for him to take and he obliges as she takes the opposite from him. “But I just wanted to thank you, and her for everything in person.”

“She wouldn’t want your thanks, not out of anything malicious but because she did what was right and that would’ve been enough for her,” explained Graham. “But I will accept it on her behalf.”

Faith nods in acceptance. “But that wasn’t the only reason I wanted to see you, the first is that there’s something I wanted to show you if you would allow me to.”

Graham raises his eyes to her again. “What is it?”

He watches as she undoes the top buttons of her shirt, revealing the deep scar running down her chest. He subconsciously raises a hand to his own chest, tracing his own scar, a leftover reminder from the chemotherapy. She leans forward and hesitates for a fraction of a second but powers on and gently takes his hand in hers, directing it towards her chest.

“What are you doing?” asked Graham, confusion on his face.

“Just feel.”

He frowns and feels his hand on her the top of her chest, the scar brushing against his hand. “I don’t understand, I can only feel…” She shakes her head and pushes his hand deeper.

“Not the scar, what’s underneath it.”

He turns his eyes from her face and stares at his hand, his mind slowly working out as he finally feels it. The rhythm of a beating heart and he chokes back a sob when he feels Grace’s heartbeat for the first time in years, beating away in the body of this young woman and his tears finally fall freely.

* * *

 

_I let my guard down_

_And then you pulled the rug_

* * *

 

He removes his hand, lost for words for a moment. “I never thought I would ever feel her heart beat again.”

“Yeah, I owe her a lot but I wasn’t sure how you would’ve taken it, was a little bit nervous asking if I’m honest.”

Graham runs a thumb across the palm of his hand. “Thank you, for letting me feel her again but you said there was another reason as well?”

Faith smiles at him and steps back. “Yeah, something brilliant happened.” She gets up and he watches her take something from the mantelpiece. “We found out the news a few months ago.” She holds something out for him to take. “If it wasn’t for your wife, then we would’ve never gotten this far, never would have been this blessed.”

Graham reaches over and takes the item. He slowly turns it over, recognizing what he’s holding in his hands instantly. He flicks his eyes back up to her. “You’re pregnant?” She nods.

“Grace didn’t just give me life Graham, she gave my daughter life.” Her face turns slightly anxious now. “And there’s something we want to do but we want to make sure it’s alright with you first.”

“What is that?”

James comes back into the room now, handing a tea over to Graham before making his way to Faith. “Would it be okay with you if we named her after your wife? It seemed fitting but we wanted to make sure first, didn’t want to overstep boundaries.”

“You don’t have to do that…”

“No, we don’t but we want to, it’s the right thing to do because without your wife, Grace, then I wouldn’t have my wife or my daughter,” said James, looking at Faith in adoration.

Graham watches the pair before him and his decision is easily made, it was when they first asked if he’s honest with himself. “She would’ve loved that.” They smile back down at him as they both take seats opposite him. They talk well into the night, and although he refuses they manage to twist his arm and get him to stay, saying that it’s late and that he can leave in the morning. He stays in their spare bedroom and stares at the ceiling and for the first time in months, he gets a decent nights sleep.

He does leave in the morning, after a good breakfast of course and mainly because he wanted to know what James meant by “ _You can't beat a good Gloucester sausage Graham_ ” He promising to keep in contact with them.

He doesn’t go straight home though, he takes a minor detour when he arrives back in Sheffield. Grace didn’t want a traditional burial and that’s why he’s walking through a field filled with trees the stones of those he doesn’t know before finding the only one he does.

He kneels down before her stone and runs a hand across it. “Alright love, you probably already know who I met but I thought I should come and tell you about it anyway.” He stays talking to her stone for hours, telling her about Faith, James, about the little one that will have her name, even his trips with the Doc. Everything he’s gone through recently, he tells it all to her as _the day bleeds into night…._

* * *

 

_And you're not here_

_To get me through it all_

_I let my guard down_

_And then you pulled the rug_

_I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved_

* * *

 

His ringing phone pulls him from his thoughts as he takes it out and looks down at the caller ID. It’s Ryan, and he knows he’s probably wondering where he is, he wasn’t meant to spend as long as he has in the quiet field. He gets up slowly and glances down at the stone again. “I’ll always miss you Grace, but I’ve now realised that even though you’re not here with Ryan and me, you’re not really gone cause how can you be truly gone when your heart is still beating, still giving life to someone.” He wipes at his eyes and turns to leave. “And I think I can move on now, maybe not fully but losing you hurts a lot less now, and I'm ready to try.”


End file.
